Barbara Lee Comments on Ten Year Observance of 9/11
Contact: Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement on the ten year observance of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001:
“Ten years ago, our Nation mourned the deaths of thousands killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We still mourn. We still feel the hurt and the pain that we felt following that dreadful day. Our hearts remain heavy and we still hold the victims and their loved ones close to us.
“In the aftermath of the attacks, I cautioned our leaders to use restraint during the dark days of mourning. I asked that we pause and reject the ready resort to violence as an answer to the murderous attack we had experienced. I knew that a conventional war was not the answer to this attack: war would not bring back our dead or heal the injured and mourning; war would not bring enduring stability to the region from which the attacks sprang; war would tarnish our reputation and challenge our ideals of due process, rule of law and the constructive use of diplomacy to isolate the non-state actors who had attacked us; war would bring death and injury to our service men and women; and war would drain our treasury and divert precious resources needed to prepare our nation and its citizens for the challenges of the 21st Century.
“Ten years later, the facts are in: Enduring stability and the realization of our national interests and ideals in the region are far from assured. Our coffers are empty after protracted battles in far-away lands with billions lost to waste, fraud and abuse. More than two million troops have been deployed – some more than four times – and thousands of them have perished along the way. Our service men and women have performed with incredible courage and have done everything asked of them. In return, we must provide the benefits and services that they have earned and deserve.
“On the domestic front, there are 2.4 million more children living in poverty in American now than on September 11, 2001. Our economy, jobs and housing markets have collapsed and we have too few resources to address these pressing needs. All levels of government have been forced to shrink, crippling our ability to generate the jobs necessary to move out of this morass and our capacity to help the most vulnerable struggling to get by.
“To this day, I believe we still have the capacity to make the decisions that will ensure our children are safe and educated, secure and housed, prepared to take their place as the leaders of free and democratic nation committed to the principles of liberty and justice for all. I believe that it remains our destiny to be a beacon of hope to the world. While it is not easy, we must come together as a country and embrace the lessons learned from our haste to act ten years ago and move forward in a new direction, caring for the most vulnerable here and abroad. It is from this place that peace is born.”